The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1887-09-24
TALMAGE.


hotels In our towns, and cities and VII
lagos Will utterly exlerminate that
grace which Abraham exhibited when
he entertained the angels; and which
Lot showed when he watched for
guests at the gate Of the city; and
which Christ recognized as positive
requisite Of entering heaven, when he
declared:
was as a stranger and We took
me In.
propose TO speak this morning Of
the trials and rewards of christian hos
pitality. The first trial often comes
ia the within and eccentricity of the
guest himself. There are great
many exc client people who have pro-
tuberances OF disposition, and sharp
edges OF temperament. and unpliabIl-
ity OF character. which make them a
positive nuisance in any house where
they stay. On short acquaintance,
they will begin 10 command the house
hold affairs; order the employees 10
unusual services; keep unreasonable
hours; use narcotics In places often
siye 10 sensitive nostrils; put their
feet at unusual elevations; drop the
ashes OF their Havana on costly tapes
try; open bureaus they ought never TO
touch; and pry into things they ought
never TO see; and become impervious
20 rousing bells; and have all the pc
culiarities OF the gormandizer or the
dyspeptic; and make excavations from
poor dentistry with unusual nipple
ments; and In thousand ways aflict
the household which proposes to take
care of them. Added To all, they
stay too long They have no idea
when their welcome is worn out, and
they would be unmoved even by the
blessing which my friend Gerrlt Smith,
the philanthropst, asked one morning
at his breakfast table, on the day
when he hoped that the long pro-
tracted guests would depart, saying;
20 Lord bless this provision. and our
friends who leave MS today
But, my friends, there are alleyia-
tons 10 be put on their side of the
scale. Perhaps they have not had the
same refining influences about them In
early life that you have had. Per
haps they have inherited eccentrici-
ties that they can not help. Perhaps
IL is your duty, by example, TO show
them better way. Perhaps they are
sent 10 be trial for the development
of your patience. Perhaps they were
to be intended as an illustration OF
the opposite of whatyo are trying TO
inculcate In the minds Of your chill
dren. Perhaps IL is 10 make your
home brighter when they are gone.
When our guests are CHEEKY, and fas-
cinating, and elegant, il Is very easy TO
entertain them; but when we find in
guests that which Is antagonistic TO
our taste and sentiment, IL is positive
triumph when we can obey the words
OF my text, and "be given TO hos
pitality."
Another trial in the using of this
grace Is In the toll and expense OF ex-
ercising IL. In the well.regulated
household things go smoothly; but now
you have introduced a foreign element
into the machinery, and though you
may stoutly declare that they must |
take things as they find them, the
Martha will break in. The ungoyern-
able stove; the ruined dessert; the
delayed marketing; the perplcxities
of caterer; the difficulty of doing
proper work, and yet always being
presentable. Though you may say
there shall be no care or anxiety, there
will be care, and there Will be anxiety. |
In 1894 the Captain General provided
very grand entertainment, and among
other things he had a fountain In his |
garden IA fountain of strong drink.
In IL were 4 hogsheads of brandy, |
hogsheads of water, $4,000 lemons.
1900 pounds OF Lisbon sugar, . pounds
of grated nutmeg. 300 toasted biscuits, |
and boat, built on purpose, was
placed In the fountain, and boy row.
ed around II and filed the cups of the
people who came there TO be supplied.
Well, you say, that was a luxurious
entertainment, and of course the man
had no anxiety; but have TO tell you |
that, though you had or propose an
entertainment like that, you have
anxiety. In that very thing comes the |
divine reward.
We were born 10 serve; and when we
serve others we serve God. The flush !
on that woman's cheek, as she bends |
over the hot stove, Is as sacred In Gods
sight as the flush on the cheek OF one,
who, on hot day, breaches the gospel. !
We may serve God with plate, and |
cutlery, and broom, as certainly as we
can serve Him with psalm book and
liturgy Margaret, Queen of Norway